"[T]he absence of conventional cliffhangers doesn't mean an absence of unconventional cliffhangers."
I think I've mentioned here before my plan to re-read the Foundation trilogy, which engrossed me some 30 barbarous millennia ago, but now I'm wondering if I must deplore Hari Seldon because of this endorsement by Krugman, who despite continuing to be right about things like the mythical nature of bond vigilantes is just so shrill.
By coincidence I stumbled on the audio version produced by the BBC and available for free on the Internet Archive at http://archive.org/details/IsaacAsimov-TheFoundationTrilogy
Posted by: Jon Lowder | Dec 10, 2012 at 10:50 AM
That's rich! Galt:Greenspan::Seldon:Krugman.
What does it say about me that I preferred Heinlein in high school? I think I read everything he wrote.
Posted by: David Wharton | Dec 10, 2012 at 11:11 AM
The books/series that thrilled me in my teen years, in order of my age when encountering them:
The Lord of the Rings, including The Hobbit and The Silmarillion, all of which I've read an embarrassingly large number of times;
The Dune trilogy;
The Foundation trilogy, which I read in college while studying econometrics. I wondered if statistical models could ever be as effective and accurate as "psychohistory." My answer now: Nope.
Posted by: Andrew Brod | Dec 10, 2012 at 11:43 AM
Speaking of Tolkien, this reviewer doesn't exactly like the new movie. But because "it provides service for the hardcore Tolkien-head, but no foothold for the casual fan," it might be perfect for me.
Posted by: Andrew Brod | Dec 10, 2012 at 11:48 AM
It's not just the Foundation Trilogy anymore, Ed. Even discounting the Robot books (which shouldn't be discounted), Asimov added Foundation's Edge and Foundation and Earth to make it a...quintilogy? Fivesome?
I hate Mondays...
Posted by: scharrison | Dec 10, 2012 at 01:40 PM